Human Resource Blog

Employee Refusal to Sign Document

I have an employee in the state of Florida who is refusing to sign a document stating the change of her status from exempt (salaried) to non-exempt (hourly). Her position is an office assistant position. She is also 8 months pregnant. It is my understanding that even if the employee refuses to sign, the change still takes effect and that I need to have a witness present to note that she did not sign the document. What are my next steps? Please advise.

In this case, the employee is signing only to indicate that she has been told of the new status change, from exempt to non-exempt.  The best practice would be to inform the employee at least one full pay period in advance, although this is not strictly necessary in Florida. At any rate, having the employee sign and return the memo is standard practice. In fact, simply treating this employee as non-exempt makes changes her status to non-exempt, so signing a document may not be strictly required, but it is entirely reasonable.

Of course, you cannot expect the employee to sign a document that is untrue — for example, one that says she volunteered for this status change, or agrees to work indefinitely under this arrangement.

To be on the safe side, have a witness present to verify that the employee was aware of this change. The witness should note *memo presented to employee on (date.) Employee refused to sign. Witnessed by* the witness should then sign his or her name and date.

You are correct that you do not need the employees permission to make this change, and that it will go into effect whether she signs the memo or not.

Be aware that in some states, if this is a significant change in wages, hours or working conditions, and the employee chooses to resign rather than accept it, she will qualify for unemployment benefits. In every state, you must inform the employee in advance of this change. In Florida, it can go into effect beginning tomorrow, but cannot be effective as of last week.

Because this employee is pregnant, you need to be careful that you are taking this action for a valid business reason, not due to her pregnancy or to pregnancy-related absences.